`I believe in giving each character a different shape’

Were you nervous regarding the film?
We were all anxious about it, but not nervous as such. Ramu is so experienced. He has directed about 14 films. I feel I am definitely better off than I was in my first film, in terms of handling the pressure of the release.

Is this your comeback film?
(Laughs) Hey! I never ran away anywhere, so where is the question of coming back? I don’t think I can categorise Jungle as my comeback film. It is just my second release.

In the film you are shown as a guy who lives for his girlfriend. Is that true in real life as well?
That I live for my girlfriend? Well, I live for myself.

Compared to the time you entered the film industry, you have a lot more competition now with Hritik Roshan and Abhishek Bachchan having made their debuts?
I don’t view their entries into filmdom in terms of competition. It is not like we are all running a 100-metre race. The variables are different for each one. We have our own specialities, which we try to capitalise on, and weaknesses, which we try to hide, of course!

So what would you term as your speciality?
I don’t know if you can call it a speciality, but I try to be as natural as possible on screen. I am not a very stylised actor, and try to be true to the emotions that I have to portray. I tried that in my first film, it didn’t work. Let us see if it works this time.

Do you think it’s important for a hero to look macho?
If the role demands that he look macho, then he must. Though, instead of showing off a tough physique on screen, it would be better if an actor showed his histrionics!

Is it true that Ramgopal Varma is very happy with your performance in Jungle?
Well, he is producing two films in which I am acting. Yes, he is reasonably happy. He has been generous with his compliments. Coming from him, I do take them as compliments because he rarely pays compliments. He doesn’t like paying compliments.

Any funny or unforgettable incidents while shooting in the jungle?
We were all bitten by bamboo-ticks! And we didn’t even know we had been bitten until we began to scratch! And once there was this herd of wild elephants that went by. That was a bit scary, though I followed them all the way into the thick forest. That was fun. For me, it was just the whole experience in general because we were in the middle of this jungle and there was nothing to do! No television, no distractions.

How was the experience of working with Ramgopal Varma, Sunil Shetty and Urmila?
Sunil was great. Both Urmila and Sunil were very cooperative and open to discussion and ideas. Sunil gave me a lot of tips on action as well as safety tips. Urmila was friendly, though people told me that she is unfriendly. Ramu is solely an actor’s director and spends a lot of time working with his actors. His characters are well defined.

Which are your forthcoming films?
My father’s (Feroz Khan’s) film is still in the pre-production stage. I am doing my next film with Venus. There are films with Mehul Kumar, Pahlaj Nihalani and Anees Bazmee. I like to space out my films as much as possible and thus concentrate on them better. I like to take four or five days off in between each schedule. I like to spend more time on the character that I am playing, otherwise you just end up playing yourself and repeating yourself in film after film. I believe in giving each character a different shape and colour, as much as possible. Otherwise, at the end of the day, you feel that you’ve done nothing.